Halloween

Brennan doesn't like things on his head or anything out of the normal clothes, so this is what we came up with for a costume this year ...

SURFER BOY

He wouldn't give a good shot of both him and his board!

He was not being very cooperative with pictures because there were too many other things and costumes to watch. We went to a little party here in TVA where there was a costume contest and cookie decorating. Later that night (Saturday) we joined some friends for more treats and hanging out.

They had sparklers left over from 4th of July and Brennan wanted to join in the fun. Taylor gave him his own and he did great until the second one when he got a little to curious as to what was on the end of the stick. He gabbed the fire with his left hand!!!!!!!!!!! He took his hand off and dropped it, to discover this middle finger was black. Still no sound of pain!!!!!! He then looked and Taylor and showed him and then ran over to me to show me. It was dark and he wasn't complaining so I thought maybe it was just ash. We went to wash it off and underneath the black was a nice burn. That night it because a nice blister that took up his entire finger (top to bottom)! At church during Nursery it popped so we cut the skin off when we got home and that is when he cried! Taylor thinks its because we took his toy away (a flap of skin). He hates band-aids so we have to tape them on which makes him mad because he can't bend his finger. Funny Little Boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Open House

Over the past (almost) 24 months they have been renovating the Laie Hawaii Temple (which is a block from our apartment). In doing so they have an Open House allowing anyone interested to visit to enter and walk through to understand more of what happens there. Since we live so close they have asked for volunteers to help clean and host guests who come. I have had the opportunity to serve cookies, welcome guests with a 12 min video on the history and importance of temples, assist those in wheelchairs or those who aren't able to walk 102 steps as their tour guide, as well as clean. Taylor cleaned with me and did security last Saturday (he has been the Brennan watcher to allow me the chance to get out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). The people that we have been able to talk to about their experience have been delightful! One lady told me how she heard about the event and it warmed my heart : ) Her sister who lives on Maui flew in for a few days and told her she wanted her to attend and Open House with her. This lady was a bit taken back because all these years she didn't know here sister had a house over here on Oahu ; ) What she didn't understand was the fact that is wasn't the type of house she was thinking. As she walked up to the temple it made more sense to her. She proceeded to tell me that as she walked through and talked with people it was obvious to here that THIS (the temple) was her sister's extended family and home and she never knew what she had been missing out on!

I wish I could have more time to serve there but since I am due on the 19th they told me they didn't want me to be on my feet that long : ( I am extremely grateful I at least had the few hours I did because it was an experience not many get to have.

After the Open House is done on the 13th they will close it for a time to do a super clean after all the thousands have walked through and then it will be dedicated by the Prophet and President of the Church Thomas S. Monson on the 21st. After that point only worthy members of the church will be allowed to enter and perform the ordinances for themselves or for those who have past on.

Bounce

About a month ago, the married housing (TVA) here on campus where we live, had a Family Day. There was anything from clowns, to games, to food, to water activities, to bouncy houses ...
Needless to say Brennan had his first bouncy house experience and this is how it went for him : )

Always something new

You can never leave Brennan unsupervised for a second and if you do ... you find him doing things like this ...

He climbed on the toilet first then reached the inside of the sink in order to get a grip to pull himself up to the counter. Then it is into the sink and on with the water. His toothbrush was on the counter so he decided he would use it. It used to be grabbing the toilet paper and running around the house with it still attached but he has moved on to something more adventurous. He keeps us on our toes!!!! The only rest is when he is napping and even then he is here there and everywhere on his bed! I told Taylor the other day that the baby moves more than I remember Brennan moving so things could get really interesting : )

Little helper

Brennan is at that stage where he wants to be in the middle of everything you do!!!! Here a few pictures from my phone I have captured of his longing to be of help and feel needed : )

It does help that he loves water!!!

We have had to hide the broom in the top shelf of the closed or he drags it around all over the house!

Helping fill the flour bucket is so fun ... until Mom closes the lid :'(

Not only is he helping with things around the house he is catching on to babies and their needs/wants! We were at a friend's house, who have a 5 month old, and Brennan saw the bottle on the floor. He quickly picked it up and ran to the bedroom where the baby was, not understanding that he was already sleeping, Brennan just knew this is what makes him happy and wanted to help! Also it has been a long process but he is learning what soft means. He has 6 weeks more practice before it's no longer other babies, but his own sibling (who will one day fight back :) I'm sure).

Cheap entertainment

With the web cam on our lab top came software to spice things up a bit. As we have Skyped with Taylor's parents, all of his grandparents, my brother Brian and my sister Sara we have enjoyed this feature! A few Sundays ago we decided to play with it more now that Brennan is realizing that it is him being recorded. Here is what he came up with...

Brown Fun

It just so happened that our friends the Browns came the very same week Gina did. They were even on the same flight over : ) While they were here, we had the chance to watch their little girl, who is 2 months younger than Brennan. Randomly enough they will have another one in February so the new babies will be 3 months apart : ) They went snorkeling and played around at the golf course and this is what we did with the kids ...

Took them to the Dole Plantation where we ate, played and went on the train. Our favorite part was while we were waiting for our food, we had the kids in the backpacks next to each other and this is what Brennan did : )

We have our hands full already!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A few days later they had us over to play in the pool and have dinner.

Finally, they took Taylor and I snorkeling because neither one of us has ever been. Much to our surprise they bought us gear so we can go anytime we want now!!!!! THANK YOU BROWNS!!!!!!!!!!!! Here are the two pregos : ) and the kids playing while us adults took turns adventuring.

A Shout Out!!!

I just have to say Taylor is more and more amazing to me everyday!

He has finally started his first semester (has completed 3 terms) here at BYU Hawaii. He is taking 5 classes to equal 14 credits so that he can be eligible for an academic scholarship. As he was signing up for classes (with a counselor) he was not told that 3 of his Psychology classes are all prerequisites for each other!

His teachers are aware of the classes he is in and told him it is because of the work load these 3 classes have not necessarily the content they will be covering. He is working hard to beat the odds as well as be a father and husband!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! His constant worry for a pregnant wife and a very energetic son hasn't stopped nor has his desire to spend time with us! He is making lots and lots of sacrifices as well as asking help from our Heavenly Father knowing all will be taken care of during this time.

We made this move knowing there would be difficult times to bring us together and make us grow in ways we were unaware, and as time passes we are receiving just that!!!!!!!!!! We have your support and can not say THANK YOU enough!!!!! Along with these experiences are coming HUNDREDS of blessings of which we will keep you posted. We know that we are given trials/difficulties but there are always ways to overcome and the blessings are endless!!!!!!!!!!!! We know we are loved, known and watched over by our Heavenly Father as well as our Elder Brother Jesus Christ, the one who made it possible to overcome, and we desire to return to them after our test here!

Sleep Talking

You can't help but love my brothers if you know them at all! Here is why...

I had the fun opportunity to live with Brian and Tod in a one bedroom apartment for several months before I spent a semester in Mexico 6 years ago. Brian had build his bed up on stilts and Tod slept under him. There were many nights they would have conversations in their sleep that were the funniest to listen to because most of the time they didn't make sense. It brings a huge smile to know that they are still finding ways to have their conversations even though they live miles apart!!!!

This is their new way...

THE PHONE

Neither one recall anything happened but Tod's wife relayed the story to me. Tod's phone rang and he hit ignore to then curl up to the phone. In so doing he then called Brian back (the one who called him first). A little later his phone went off again, this time his wife tried to take it from him, but he had a death grip on it and curled up to it again. She didn't say how many times this happened but the fact that it even happened in funny enough for me.

Our 1st visitor!

Gina was given a choice to make and she decided to visit us for a week! We love Gigi and thank you for choosing us!!!! Hope you enjoy the pictures!

This free scrapbooking design customized with Smilebox

Friends

Brennan loves people but especially the ones that are bigger than him. The kids his size he beats on so they don't want to play, but he doesn't feel the need to beat on ones bigger than him! I wonder why? This is Ule, who will be 2 in a month! We had him and his parents over for dinner and Family Home Evening last night. The boys played and played while we were able to have a wonderful discussion about how Christianity and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has influenced the island of Tonga (that is where they are from).

This was the dinner we were blessed with!!!! The leaf is a Taro leaf with lamb rib wrapped inside and the white stuff is Tapioca. They put the Tapioca on the bottom of the pot then layered on the lamb and slow cooked it in coconut milk. It was yummmmmmmmmmmmy!!!!! The lamb was the only thing not FRESH from their garden!

We have been blessed with the most AMAZING friends!!!!

Saturday Fun

This is Brennan attempting to make the face Maori (people from New Zealand) guys make as they do a Hakka (chants with motions)!

At the Polynesian Cultural Center they have 6 villages and throughout the year they have competitions for each island the villages highlight. We have gone to the Samoan fire knife, Tahitian dance and Maori Poi/Hakka. Brennan loves to dance along with them!!!!!

I barely had enough batter in the camera for these pictures after I videoed our friends dancing. They danced for 30 minutes so I will spare you the time and not post it! If you ever get the chance you have to see these cultures - they are moving (powerful)!

Locked up

So this may see harmless because it is the outside of our bathroom door. But Brennan learned quickly that is NOT. He shut the door behind him and then opened the drawers and this is what you get!
A DOOR THAT DOESN'T OPEN!

Taylor and I were on the other side where there are no hinges or way to open it for him. He is tall enough to reach the handle but the drawer was in the way. The light was off and there are no windows for light. Imagine being 14 months old and not understanding what "shut the drawer" means because you are scared out of your mind. You can hear mom and dad on the other side but no way to get to them!

Taylor ran to the housing office to see what they suggested while I stayed with the little man, listening to his cry get louder and louder as well as harder and harder to where he was gaging. We were told that if we did anything to the door we would have to pay for it but if maintenance did they pay. In order to get them here we had to call security! Taylor called and as soon as he hung up with them Brennan had knocked the drawer shut so I could open the door.

We now play games and make it fun to shut drawers!!!!!!!!

Talking to other families that live in the same complex, their kids have done the same thing but their door opened enough to get a knife through to shut the drawer, but ours WOULDN'T.

He is out now and goes in and shots the door but doesn't open drawers until the door is opened again : )

A Special Visitor

CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW

They have been filming Pirates of the Caribbean IV for the past little bit here and in Fiji. The Black Pearl was here for a while but we didn't get the chance to see it. The ship that we got to see was the Queen Anne because they began filming when the Captain arrived between 8-10 every night. For an AMAZING pictures of the ship and Captain Jack taken by my friend Leisa, who is a photographer with a nice camera go here (she has posted a few since then so you will have to scroll down a bit but its well WORTH IT). Leisa went the night before with her family and the kids couldn't wait any longer so they left without seeing him :( She then got a text 10 minutes later saying he came : ( : ( : ( That just meant she was going back the next night without kids but adults, THAT WAS US (and Brennan of course because he stays up late)! It was fun to see how he made it a point to touch as many as he could reach and sign something for the kids. We got there around 8 and there was already a line 2 people deep. As time went on more and more showed up and it ended up being 5-6 people deep.

Taylor made a comment that really got people thinking about their actions. He said how would it be if the Savior was to come? Would we be pushing our way to the front or wait patiently knowing He will reach us? Would we have cameras and find every way possible to get a picture even if that meant it was covering someone else's? Will we be reaching for a phone camera because our other one's batteries are dead? Will we have the spirit of contention and only about ME? How are we going to act/be prepared when He comes? Just some food for thought ...

Random

I forgot about the pictures and videos we had on our camera until we used it the other night so here are some random adventures we have had.

PAWNING

Our friend Joey is from this area so he knows all the places to go! Close to where he grew up there are several fresh water ponds up in the mountain. After 2 plus hours of wandering in the wilderness : ) we decided on a place to stop!!!!! This is the place:

There were 3 spears so the rest of us watched and cheered as they caught a few for us to eat. Being that there is so much water, the mosquitoes were everywhere! To help chase them off we built a fire (also to cook the prawns) so that is where Taylor took the pictures from. Brennan being the water boy that he is couldn't stand the fact that he was so far way so we ventured down and he climbed right in. I wasn't prepared for him to get in but he had other plans : ) so in he went with clothes and a diaper on!

Here are the 3 hunters!

Tyler's needs his eyes checked - it's a fish!

Brennan practicing his kisses!!!!

MORE BEACH

Brennan has made little friend whose dad is in the military and has to go on trainings for long periods of time. We tried to keep his mom and him busy by going to the beach so here are a few pic. Yes he only has one swim suite, but it is getting small so we just bought a new one. It is orange as well!!! Easier to spot!!!

FATHER'S DAY

I wanted to get a picture of the boys but when I remembered Taylor was headed out the door for work and Brennan was asleep already (rare occasion). It was a good day! We gave talks in church on talents and how we can bless each other! Both of our dads were mentioned OF COURSE!!! Then Taylor requested breakfast for dinner because he works nights he doesn't eat breakfast (he wakes up around lunch). We had friends from New Zealand over even though it wasn't Father's Day for them! I debated whether to make Taylor a candy lei or enjoy the smell of flowers : ) I decided I could make a candy one at home so I better get the fresh flowers while we are here!!!!!! He is the most handsome father : ) even with his nap hair!!! We LOVE you Taylor as well as the other fathers in our lives!!!!!

VIDEO

Brennan has found his favorite drawer in the kitchen - the plastic bags! As most kids, he plays with household items more than his own "toys".

The video won't up load but I will keep trying so check back and hopefully there will be success!